Extraction, Evaluation and Application of Cashew Nutshell Extract for Ambient Preservation of Meats

Meat is a nutritious, protein-rich food which is highly perishable with a short shelf-life unless it is adequately preserved. There is the need to control meat spoilage using natural products rather than chemical preservatives. The preservative efficacy of cashew nutshell extract on beef and goat meat samples was investigated. Meat samples were cut and preserved with the cashew nutshell extract of four different concentrations (50 ppm, 100 ppm, 150 ppm and 200 ppm) for five storage days alongside the controls, without the addition of the extract under ambient condition. The yield of cashew nutshell extract after treatment was high (86.54%) at solute to solvent ratio 1:10. There was a statistically significant difference between meat samples preserved with cashew nutshell extract and the control group over the five storage days; beef (P<0.05) and goat meat (P<0.05). There was also a significant difference in the preservative efficacy of cashew nutshell extract between beef and goat meat up till the third storage day. The effect of concentration on the preserved meat samples also showed a dose response relationship; with highest and lowest 'Total Bacterial Count' (TBC) in beef at 50 ppm and 200 ppm respectively, while highest and lowest TBC were recorded at 100 ppm and 200 ppm respectively for goat meat. The acetone extract of cashew nutshell has the potential of preserving meats. Therefore, due to its natural antimicrobial food preservative properties, it will be very useful in meat industry